Kids and Cutting

The great thing about the scroll saw is it's relative safety compared to other traditional power tools. You just don't hear, "I slipped and before I knew it (5 minutes later), I had lost my arm, finger or whatever".

So, the scroll saw and kids are a natural fit. Kids love to cut and do crafts, and the scroll saw is an enabler for their creativity. It's also easy enough for them to comprehend and perform all the required tasks.

Tonight we are cutting plastic keychains. I tend to look for free scroll saw fodder at every turn, so I recently found some flat plastic that some folks were throwing away at work. (In the computer profession, all kinds of equipment will come with plastic covers that are removed to install the components. So, that is material we made keychains out of tonight.

Tonight, the scroller is 13 year old Caleb with his 12 year old sister looking on. He has made bowls, book ends, and assorted other shapes, some pattern and some freehand. At this point, he knows the routine, so my assistance is becoming minimal. It's like fishing, once you teach a kid to bait their own hook, clean the fish and etc, fishing becomes a bit more enjoyable for Dad.

Below are a few pics of Caleb going through the different phases of the project.